Don't get me wrong, I am really happy about the MLS-USL Pro agreement as it will do a lot to improve the talent level of North American Soccer. I am just wondering what will happen to the NASL and its players. My current view on the progression of talent goes USL -> NASL -> MLS, but it seems like in the future it will go USL <-> MLS and excluding the NASL. Will the MLS remain the top devision and the USL take over as the second division or will it be a 1st division=MLS, 2nd Divison=NASL, 2nd Division 2.0=USL-Pro?

NASL is only 2nd division over USL-Pro arbitrarily. The ownership groups that split from USL to form NASL had a lot more in the way of resources, and used those resources to acquire some very strong brands. NASL was named 2nd division and USL 3rd based almost entirely on the strength of these brands and resources.

Since the leagues split NASL has continued to build very strong brands. San Antonio is already rocking a brand new soccer specific stadium in 2013. They drew an average of about 9,000 last year, in an 11,000 seat stadium. They started in, and have expanded to, much stronger markets than USL has targeted. They've secured a pretty strong web presence with all of their regular season matches broadcast on UStream, a strong brand in it's own right. They locked in the Cosmos, which is still probably one of the most recognizable brands in the history of American soccer. Off the field they have done everything to justify their 2nd division status.

On the field is a different story, IMO. In their first year, they failed to secure USSF sanctioning in time to participate in the US Open Cup. They lost the ownership group of Minnesota, which was one of their most recognizable names, and had to take over the franchise from within. They announced the Ottawa expansion, but that team failed to meet it's deadlines to participate in 2012 as planned. The next year they participated in the USOC and did well, but USL-Pro did better. USL had a better record against lower leagues, against MLS clubs, sent 3 clubs to the round following the ouster of all NASL clubs, and won the only USL vs. NASL head to head match.

After the season they announced that Ottawa would still not be ready for 2013, the Cosmos would miss the first half (Apertura) of the season (and the 2013 OSOC), and Puerto Rico was dropping out for at least the Apertura, maybe permanently. They strengthened their position by announcing expansions in Indy and Virginia, but really, with all of the instability in the last couple of years, who knows how, if, and when, these plans will come to fruition.

Meanwhile, USL has quickly rebounded from losing their wealthiest ownership groups to NASL. Their teams have performed very well against all interleague competition in the USOC since the split. They have expanded (on schedule) to Phoenix and Tampa, and have secured this huge deal with MLS.

In my mind USL-Pro is a better league, with better teams and better players than NASL. NASL rides the 2nd division title on the strength of it's brands and finances alone. I am really excited for this year's USOC, more to compare NASL to USL than for any other reason.

I agree with most of this, but two things. The 2nd division thing isn't quite as arbitrary as you make it out to be. The USSF came up with strict criteria for D2, ownership and otherwise. Criteria that many USL owners can't or don't want to meet. NASL has needed a grace period to meet some of the criteria as a new league. This will only be their third year.

The Minnesota situation: the Minnesota Thunder were the team that played pro soccer here since '91. They were originally a part of the TOA, the group that wanted to breakaway from USL. It was this team that the ownership group flaked out on and essentially disappeared. This was a full year prior to the NASL starting.

The National Sports Center, which is a gov't supported non-profit organization, quickly picked up the ashes of the Thunder and assembled the NSC Minnesota Stars to play in the USSF D2 league. This league was run by USSF because the USL and TOA owners almost imploded lower level pro soccer with their infighting. Once the USSF got out of the league running business is when the criteria came in place. The NSC was no longer an acceptable owner so the league steeped in.

Whew... A little searching of the archives at www.insidemnsoccer.com well give you most of the story. BQ covered it fantastically. It was a wild time.

Thank you for the thorough and thought provoking analysis. Personally I am largely against the split(apertura) schedule and I wish there was more competition against the two leagues. Honestly, I wish that the two leagues(NASL and USL-Pro Plus MLS Reserves) would combine to make a massive league and split into east and west divisions. would be easier for teams to travel and would allow for a clearer path of development for North American talent.

Here is a good start for some history, I swear someone should write a book about this. For those of you who are new to following soccer below MLS you may not know how volitale it was. Teams literally disappeared without warning. Teams "self relegated" into what was then USL-2 or PDL. Schedules were a mess.

Part of the reason NASL owners broke away was the perception that the USL was not vetting owners very well and essentially was in the business of collecting franchise fees. Many lawsuits were filed.

So I don't like that Ottawa hasn't gotten off the ground or the cosmos and islanders are taking half a season off, but it's kind of par for the course.

USL hasn't been all sunshine and roses since the split either, they have had teams fold since then.

Yea - I think Ottowa will get their ducks in a row. I haven't followed the situation too closely, but I seem to remember there was some unforeseen circumstances that seemed fairly legit as to why they didn't make 2013.

You and me both. FC Edmonton is coming around after a shakey 2012 season but things are looking up. A few other Canadian cities are making noise in both men's & women's leagues. The future is bright for Canadian Soccer.

That will be up to the teams to manage their rosters. I'd imagine they wouldn't let MLS players who need match fitness to play for the USL side in USOC play for this reason, but would obviously let them play in regular season matches. I think most of the reserve team starting players will be dedicated and not rotating too much.

Maybe. They are currently under hiatus while the new Puerto Rican government decides if they are going to continue to fund them. They are sitting out the Apertura, but if they can get funding they should be back for the Clausura.

To me, it sounds like they just sold their soul to the devil. If the one thing that USLPro had over NASL was better players, they will essentially lose that advantage by becoming the feeder league for the MLS. Any real talent will be immediately snatched up and thrown into an alternates squad, and the quality and continuity of the onfield product will drop dramatically. Prior to this, the NASL and MLS had a bit of a gentlemans agreement as far as talent was concerned - I guess that's off now.

Oh, and I looked up the USLPro team in Tampa Bay - They're called VSI Tampa Bay FC (catchy, isn't it?!). They currently play in... nowhere. They don't have any info on their stadium, because they don't have one. They're operating out of the JC Handley Sporting Complex, which is in the suburbs of Brandon, east of Tampa. Maximum capacity - 2000. I don't see that as a franchise that is set up for success.

I don't think that MLS teams have any right to players all ready on the USL squad. At least not yet. I would think any movement of any existing USL player would still be a transfer. That could change though I suppose.

The problem lies in that the "U.S. Soccer pyramid" isn't really a pyramid because there isn't a promotion/relegation system. Since they're all independent entities, theoretically USL Pro could have more talent on the field and have better teams than MLS....obviously there are monetary factors to prevent this, but there isn't really that much of a talent difference between USL Pro and NASL regardless of which is "second" or "third" on the pyramid.

When it comes to the divisions in America, it's not really useful to compare them too Europe. You're better off thinking of them like NCAA style divisions. D2 teams have to adhere to stricter standards regarding staff, stadium, how much money they have, etc. How that relates to quality of play is up to debate.

This is a great step for the MLS and even USL Pro, we need to strengthen player development any way we can in the U.S. However I don't think it hurts the NASL at all. It is hard to distinguish a difference in the U.S. soccer pyramid below the MLS, but the pyramid is very young. One day their will be promotion/relegation in this country and it wouldn't make much since for players that can't make it in the first division to be playing for teams hoping to join the first division. In other countries such as the Germany for example the defending champions Borussia Dortmund's reserve squad played in the 4th division and got promoted to the 3rd division. At some point the status of these teams will work them selfs out due to promotion/relegation, but until then I think it is wise to keep it a little further back in the pyramid.

I've always thought that a merger is the inevitable conclusion. Now that MLS and USL have sort of joined, and NASL has grown more antagonistic (see the whole Cosmos saga) toward MLS, I see this as becoming more likely. Here's how I see the next decade going for NASL:

NASL goes all-in on the Cosmos. They build a huge stadium, subsidize the Cosmos to bring in big name international transfers, much in the way that MLS subsidized the Beckham deal and generally become the New York Cosmos League. This creates a mixed bag of success with some markets like San Antonio keeping up in spending and development, and some falling way behind. Less financially stable franchises will overspend their means to try to keep up with the Cosmos (sound familiar yet?). Except this time when the NASL begins to fall apart, they don't have to fold. MLS will recognize the power of NASL's more popular brands and force a merger. This will add 4-8, maybe more teams in one action to MLS. To deal with the sudden huge influx of more teams MLS will finally divide into either an East/West format or a D1/D2 format (with, dare I say, promotion and relegation).

Joining on a merger would mean that the NASL owners wouldn't have to spend the franchise fees. Some teams will already have SSSs by that time, and the teams that don't will be located in or near cities that have other stadiums (NFL, College football, etc) that can work as temporary solutions while MLS builds the next wave of American soccer stadiums.

This will only work out this way if the Cosmos do propel NASL into a national phenomenon. So far the Cosmos have sold a ton of T shirts (I have one myself), but they will need to step up their soccer operations. The whole future of the American soccer pyramid depends on it.

I think a merger is a possibility down the road. However a lot needs to happen between now and then. Including a long stretch of stability in the NASL where the expansion teams actually play and all the teams have solid ownership.

I hope however that the merger is not forced by the issues you describe.

If the Cosmos are the real deal, which is still a pretty big if unfortunately, I do think they will try to make big splashes player wise. But they still will be working as a D2 team and that will limit them some. If in 10-15 years MLS and NASL are competitive salary wise and are fighting to same the same type of player that is what will drive a merger.

However, one hurdle you don't mention is single entity. Some of the NASL owners are not a huge fan of that. And honestly if in a decade they've been succesful with their model, turning over their franchise to MLS might be a hard sell.

Not entirely true, some of the NASL owners are just as wealthy, if not more than some MLS. It's unclear how much money SELA sports of the Cosmos has but they are a Saudi organization, so it may be crazy money.

The new owner of the Stars is a billionaire (or was before the recession, not sure of current worth).

On the whole yes you're correct, and we'll need to wait and see what type of owners these guys are.

That's all right - we're forgotten a lot. Partially because we have admittedly had poor average attendance. But we've had soccer at this level for over 20 years. So we don't have that new car smell (even though the Stars were a new team).

San Antonio, Orlando, Tampa are all less than 5 years old. Don't get me wrong I'm ecstatic about their attendance. But will it last, especially if they go a decade without MLS?

I think San Antonio could. That is an interesting market with no other sport but the Spurs, who are supported pretty well. Orlando I definitely question since that is a tourist town. I'd have the same questions about a team in Vegas. Tampa.....that is the wild card. They draw pretty well for the Bolts and Bucs but not for the Rays, but that could be just the stadium being the problem.

I hate to say it, but the NASL/MLS issues will all come down to The Cosmos. If they build that stadium and become a destination team, that will quicken the merger.

My belief is that the NASL would not have been interested in this type of relationship. They have some ambitious owners and I think they see an opportunity to eventually be seen as an equal or near equal to MLS. I'm talking 10-20 years down the road.

It will be interesting to watch. I know the NASL has had a few bumps in the road but they're only about to begin their 3rd year. I think they are on the right path. As someone who followed the Thunder when they were in USL, the improvements in the league are significant. I think the split has also caused the USL to improve. There's still some bad blood, but I think a rising tide raises all ships in US Soccer.

I think it is kind of a rough situation for both leagues as I think that the MLS is teetering on having too many teams(all teams do cannot play twice a season) and the NASL does not have enough teams to be considered "healthy". Honestly, I wish that the NASL, the USL PRO, and the MLS Reserves would combine and make a two tier second division with promotion-relegation. Please do not flame me for this suggestion as it has nothing to do with the first division of north American soccer, MLS.

This is actually the best argument I've ever heard for Pro-Rel. And the only one with a chance of happening.

However, it would still require a massive shift in attitude and direction. There is no way that the USL and NASL combine without being forced to. At least not now, wounds are too fresh from the split.

The only argument I have against Pro-Rel for the lower divisions is it could introduce instability. During the upheaval USL asked Cleveland to go up to USL-1 to fill out the numbers. They had been USL-2 (D3 at the time) which had obviously lower player and travel costs. They did not survive the move up. Strict controls would have to be in place in case a fluke team won a lower league to make sure they could survive the jump.

This is not as much of a where the NASL is now as much as where I think it should go-
-The league should cater to potential owners who want a team now but don't want to wait to be included in Don Garber's grand plan.
-Continue to develop in markets that don't have a MLS franchise and spread high quality entertainment to deserving markets.
-With the right ownership in the league and the right amount of money, I would like to see the NASL compete outright for kids coming out of college, similar to what the USFL did when competing with the NFL. I would take a few enthusiastic/ well funded owners along with close monitoring by the league to ensure the current version of the NASL doesn't fail like the NASL of old.